Watchcase



April 22, 1924. 1,491,616

s. NORRING WATCHCASE Filed A ril '2, 1922 5] vwentoz Patented Apr. 22, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIGUBD NOBBIIVG, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO S'IAR WATCH CASE COMPANY,

OF LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN,

A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

WATCHOASE.

Application lied April 7, 1922. Serial Io. 550,272.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, Srooan Noimme, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Brooklyn in the county of Kings, city and State of ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improveof which the followments in Watchcases, in is a specification.

%his invention relates to watches and more particularly to watch cases and one of its objects is to thoroughly protect the watch movement from dust and moisture by the provision of a shield which covers the rear face of the. movement and extends around the edges thereof between the movement and the inner wall of the case;

A further object is the provision of simple means for properly centering and holding a watch movement in place within the watch case regardless of any slig may exist between the inner walls of the case and the movement, thereby avoiding the necessity of great accuracy in the manufacture of the case and the movement with reference to each other, the said case and movement being frequently manufactured in different shops.

A still further object is to simpli the structure of a wrist watch and ren er it more durable. This object is attained by the rovision of simple means for both protecting the watch movement from dust and moisture and for holding the movementsecurely in its proper place under all conditions without the use of screws or other delicate fastenin elements which complicate the structure an are liable to become disengaged as a result of the shocks to which a wrist watch is constantly subjected.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a wrist watch showing the dial properly centered by my invention;

Fig. 2 a rear view of the watch with the outer cover opened;

Fig. 3 a similar view with and outer covers opened;

Fig. 4 a section on the line Fig. 5 a section on the line 1; and

Fig. 6 a group view showing the details comprisin the common hinged connection between t e body of the watch case and the inner and outer covers.

Referring to the parts by numerals 1 designates the frame-like body of the watch both the inner 4-4 of Fig. 1; 5-5 of Fig.

ht clearance which at its front and rear sides and is formed with a continuous flange 4 which extends inwardly from the side and endmembers of the. body and defines the opening in the front side of the body. A crystal 5 is mounted in the inner edge of the flange 4, as at 6. A watch movement 7 is contained within the body of the watch case and has a dial 8 upon its front face 9. A portion of the front face surrounding the dial bears against theinner wall 9 of the front flange 4. A flange 10 extends rearwardly from the rear edges of the sides 2 and one of the end members 3. The said flange 10 has its inner wall flush with the inner wall 11 of the case body, but is made of less thickness than the sides and ends of the case to provide a shoulder 10' at the outer side of its base. The flange 1Q is cut away at one of the ends 3 of the case body and a pair of spaced pintle sleeves 12 are formed upon the said end, the said sleeves supporting a pintle pin 13. An inner cover 14 having an inturned flange 15 is provided for the purpose of shielding the watch movement from the dirt and moisture and also to center the movement and hold it securely in its proper position in the watch case. The inner cover 14 and its flange 15 are shaped to conform to the inner walls of the watch case body, the said flange extending entirely around the edge of the cover 14 thus providing the parallel side portions 16 and the parallel end portions 17 pintle sleeve 18 is carried by one of the end portions and is mounted to turn upon the medial portion of the pintle pin 13, thus providing a hinged connection between the inner cover and the case body. The pintle sleeve 18 fits neatly between the sleeves 12 to hold the sleeve 18 and the inner cover properly centered. An outer cover 19 is also provided, the said cover having an inturned flange 20 formed at its edges and cut away at one end as at 21 and formed with a pair of spaced pintle sleeves 22. These sleeves are adapted to'turnupon the end of the pintle pin 13 and to fit neatly against the outer ends of the pintle sleeves 12 carried by the case body. It will be seen that a common hinge connection is provided between the inner and outer covers ing the dial in-the opening in and the case body, as they are all three connected to the same pintlc; the inner and outer covers will, therefore, swing through concentric arcs, and the inner cover may e nested neatly within the outer cover when the covers are opened as shown in Fig. 3.

The watch movement and the flange 15 on the inner cover conform to each other in contour and the inner wall of the flan e inclines outwardly toward its edge as at 2 When the inner cover is forced into its closed position, shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the

flange l5 fits between the inner wall of the r watch case body and the movement 7 and its inner wall 27 en ages the movement entirely around its edge, thus centering the movement in the case and accurately centerthe front of the case, as shown in Fig. 1, to present a neat appearance. The inner cover is forced inwardly until a stop shoulder 23 thereon contacts the flange 10 of the case body; the outer cover is then. closed to overlie the inner cover and hold it in its innermost osition. A snap connection between the body and the outer cover is formed at the end opposite the hinge by bulging the flange 1O outwardly as at 24 and indenting the cover flange 20 as at 25. The inner cover and its flange 15 are preferably made of thin material which. is slightly yieldable and resilient so that the flange will acEommodate itself to watch movements which differ slightly in size, and contact the movement entirely around its edge. The necessity for making the watch case and the movement with great accuracy so that the movement will accurately fit in the case is thereby avoided. This is particularly advantageous for the reason that the case and movement are frequently manufactured in different shops. When the outer and inner covers are closed the flange 20 on the outer cover fits outside of and overlaps the flange 10 on the case body and abuts the shoulder 10; the flange 15 on the inner cover is of substantial depth and overlaps the inner wall of the case body and the edge of the movement for a substantial distance, thus thoroughly protecting the movement from dirt and moisture. It will be seen that when the inner cover is forced inwardly the movement is wedged between the opposite sides of the inclined walls of the flange 15 and is pressed against the inner face 9 of the front flange 4 of the case body, thus when the outer cover is closed against the inner cover the movement is firmly held against displacement in any direction.

A watch case constructed as described is particularly desirable in the case of wrist watches as it thoroughly protects the delicate movement and holds it firmly in position in the case without the use of delicate fastening elements, thus simplifying the watch structure and rendering it more durable and able to withstand the constant exposure and shocks to which a wrist watch is subjected.

Although I have shown and described the watch case as being rectangular in shape I do not wish to be limited in this respect as it could be made in any one of a variet of shapes without sacrificing any of the a vantages of the invention, neither do I wish to be limited to the precise detail structure shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. A watch case comprising a body portion open at its rear side to adapt it to contain a watch movement, an inner cover hinged and adapted to shield the rear side of the movement, a flange extending inwardly from said cover and adapted to fit between the movement and the inner wall of the body portion of the casing to center the movement and hold it against displacement in any direction. a hinged outer cover adapted to overlie the inner cover, and means for holding the outer cover in closed position.

2. A watch case comprising a body portion adapted to contain a watch movement, the said body portion being open at its rear side and formed with a rearwardly extending flange surrounding the opening and a shoulder extending along the outerside of the base of the flange, an inner cover hinged to the body portion and adapted to cose the opening in the rear of the body portion of thecase and formed with a continuous inwardly extending taper flange conforming with the contour of the watch movement, the said flange being adapted to overlap the inner walls of the body portion of the case for a substantial distance to snugly enclose the movement, an outer cover hinged to the rear of the body portion of the easing and formed with an inwardly extending flange adapted to embrace the rearwardly extending flange on the body portion of the case and to abut the shoulders at its base, the said outer cover being adapted when in its closed position to cover the inner cover, and a snap connection between the outer cover and the body portion of the case.

3. A watch case comprising a body portion adapted to contain a watch movement, an inner cover adapted to shield the rear of the movement and formed with a flange extending inwardly therefrom and adapted to fit between the movement and the inner wall of the body portion of the casing to center the movement and hold it against displacement in any direction, an outer cover adapted to overlie the inner cover and hold it in place and formed with a flange ada. ted to receive and fit over the edge of the ho y portion, a common hinged eonnection between the outer and inner covers and the body portion of the case, the said hinged connection permitting the inner cover to be nested within the outer cover when the said covers are opened, and a snap connection between the body ortion of the case and the outer cover to old the said cover in closed position.

4. A watch case comprising a body porlion adapted to contain a watch movement, an inner cover hinged to the body portion of the case and adapted to shield the rear face and the edges of the movement, the said cover being formed around its edge with a continuous inwardly extending flange and the said flange having its inner Walls outwardly inclined and being slightly yieldnble and resilient to adapt it to fit the movement and engage it entirely around its edges to center and hold it against displacement in any direction, an outer cover hinged to the body portion of the case, and a snap connection between the body portion and the outer cover to hold the cover closed, the said outer cover being adapted when in closed position to hold the inner cover around the watch movement.

Signed at New York city, in the borough of Manhattan. county and State of New York, this sixth day of April, 1922.

SIGURD NORRING. 

